


I know (and I care) (Q2 2011)

by Hyogacamus1984



Series: 青春アミーゴ (Seishun Amigo) [17]
Category: Hey! Say! JUMP, Johnny's Entertainment
Genre: Shintaro Morimoto (mentioned)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-09-09 19:22:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8908975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hyogacamus1984/pseuds/Hyogacamus1984





	

When nine phones beep at quarter to five in the morning, only two people are actually awake to see the message.  
Yuto looks at the message, put his phone down, closes his book and gets into bed.  
There is nothing he can do about it and he has only just finishes his revision. He has a test tomorrow and he’s got better things to do than to worry about a message that appears on his phone.

*

At the other end of Tokyo, Chinen sighs.

_It supposed to be a day off and I only just gotten off work two hours ago._   
_Can’t a guy even have some quality time with the new computer?_

Chinen turns off his gaming computer and climbs into his bed.

Three hours of sleep is better than nothing.

*

None of them sees Ryutaro in school today.  
When the three of them gather together at the school gate and all head towards agency from Horikoshi, Yabu is standing at the gate with Hikaru and Dai-chan. He sends a message to Ryutaro, Yuya, Inoo and Keito, all respond to him instantly and tell him they are also on their way to the office.   
Except he receives an error message.

Ryutaro.

Their manager catches them all outside the agency and hurries the nine of them to their room and shuts the door behind them before leaving them in there.

“Ryutaro…” Chinen starts.  
“It must be about him, right?” Hikaru says. “He’s the only one that is not here.”  
“What could it possibly be?” Inoo asks. “We had yesterday evening off, and it’s a day off today. It hasn’t even been 12 hours since we last see him.”  
“Maybe he’s just late.” Dai-chan says. The rest of them nod, hoping Dai-chan is right.

No one says anything after that.   
It is a rare sight with the nine of them in the same room and yet you can hear a pin drop. Even if Yuto and Yamada are not talking, they are still a very noisy group of people. Chinen eventually starts resting his head on Yamada’s lap and his legs and feet across Yuto’s lap (Regardless of how Yuto is angry with everybody, no one gets angry at Chinen - ever) and decides that he might as well make the most of it and sleep until they are being told what has happened. Yamada decides to join Chinen in the land of the snooze and rests his head on Keito’s arm. Yuto looks at Yabu (the only person that he doesn’t bite the head off of) who is solemnly looking at his phone sitting on one of the chairs by the table next to Hikaru, as if he wants to find something. Yuya sits opposite the two of them with Inoo and Dai-chan.  
Their manager eventually comes in with Johnny-san and Keito gently wakes Yamada and Yamada shakes Chinen.  
They all look at each other.  
This can’t be good.   
They see Johnny-san in and out all the time (the bald headed guy who wanders around like a service man or sometime a security more than anything), and Johnny-san doesn’t interfere with their daily things, unless it is something serious.  
Last time Johnny-san was seen with a manager was when Akanishi resigned from Johnny’s.  
Yuto remembers how upset Kamenashi looked, and he remembers how much pain the other four them looked.  
He doesn’t want that for Hey! Say! SEVEN.   
He doesn’t want that for Hey! Say! JUMP.  
It’s only been a few years for them, and they have so much more to give.

“Sorry I have to call you all in today, knowing it’s rare for you to have a day off on a weekday.” Their manager says.  
“I am here to announce that Morimoto Ryutaro is no longer part of Hey! Say! SEVEN and Hey! Say! JUMP.” Johnny-san says before he walks out of the room with no other explanation.

In and out, five minutes.  
None of them know what to say, nor do they know how to react.  
It comes at a shock to all of them.  
When the door clicks close, their manager sits down at the table and look at them all. Yuya grabs his bag and pulls out his cigarette, and just as he is about to light up, the manager clears his throat.

“Ryutaro was caught smoking underage last night.” Their manager says.

Yuya puts his cigarette back into his bag.   
Not that he is underage, he just realises that would have been very insensitive of him.

“By who?” Hikaru asks.   
“An unknown passerby who recognised him.” The manager says.   
“It might not necessarily be Ryutaro.” Yabu says. “According to recent scientific research, it is possible to find someone who looks identical to you in the 7 billion people on the face of this earth.”   
Their manager shows them his phone with the photo of Ryutaro smoking.  
There is no denying it.  
“Can’t the agency do something to cover it up?” Inoo asks. “There have been cases where situations has been covered and controlled. As much as I respect KAT-TUN and they are like big brothers to us, I am sure they have done a lot of other things that is worse than smoking underage. I mean, Kameanshi-kun and Akanishi-kun never finished high school, and they were smoking WAY before they turned 20. It’s pretty much a known fact. Just because they didn’t get caught doesn’t mean they didn’t do it… and Johnny-san never did anything about that.”  
“After assessing the situation and having seen the photos, the press team has advised that this is not worth covering up and it will appear on the news and magazine first thing tomorrow morning.” Their manager says in their official tone that the nine of them knows too well.   
“So the agency is sacrificing Ryutaro to warn us not to step out of the line.” Chinen says.   
“The nine of you are to be on your best behaviour and to keep yourself under the radar.” The manager pleads (mainly at SEVEN) and ignores Chinen comment. “Please please please remember that. Just… for now. Keep a low profile.”

None of them says anything still.  
They are still very much in shock.

“What… what about the album?” Hikaru asks. “We have only just started recording.”  
“The two songs that Ryutaro has recorded will still be on the album.” The manager sighs. “There will be delay of course, but we don’t know how long yet.”  
“And all the routines that we have been rehearsing?” Dai-chan asks.  
“There will be new arrangements.” Their manager answers. Then Chinen gasps.  
“Shintaro. What about Shin-chan?” Chinen asks.   
“He is the least of your worries.” Their manager says.   
“But Shin-chan...” Keito starts but is interrupted by their manager.  
“He’s a junior.” Their manager says. “Someone will deal with the aftermath on that side.”

They suddenly realise the reality of the situation.  
Today you’re comrades, you’re a team; but if anything happens tomorrow, you are no longer part of it.  
Just like that.  
Black and white.

“That is all for today. Best, you are dismissed, thank you for coming in. I have more information to give to SEVEN.”   
“Why can’t we stay?” Dai-chan asks.  
“We are a team, are we not?” Yabu asks.   
“This only concerns SEVEN.” Their manager says.   
“You do know they’ll tell us after this, right?” Hikaru says.

Their manager doesn’t say anything and just signal them to leave the room and face SEVEN. The five of them pick up their bags and looks at SEVEN. Yuya signals Chinen to call him afterwards, and he nods. The five of them leaves the room and close the door behind them.

“The four of you will be suspended from working as SEVEN until further notice. Also I have called your parents and have let them know the seriousness of the situation.” The four of them look at each other. “And in your case Chinen, I have let your sister know.”  
“What?” Yamada raises his voice.  
“I am taking precaution.” Their manager says. “You are all so close to being twenty, I cannot risk your career. The next few years will go very quick and by then you’ll be off the radar.”  
“So we are guilty already even though we haven’t done anything? That’s fair!” Yuto smirks.  
“Reading between the lines, it means you don’t trust us.” Keito adds.  
“We do. We just don’t want anything similar happen again.” Their manager pleads. “We have shifts all your schedules around and you won’t be working after eight in the evening and your family is aware of the arrangement. There will be arrangement if you are working after eight in the evening.”  
“So we are going to have a curfew, because Ryutaro just wants to enjoy himself and be a normal person for once? In that case, please let my onechan know I am going to go to the game centre now in my school uniform and I shall be home for dinner.” Chinen says and picks up his bag and leaves the room.

Chinen might be small but no one ever misses Chinen’s presence and his walk-out is definitely dramatic (after all, he only learns from the best: Katori Shingo and Nagase Tomoya). The three of them also pick up their bag and walk out of the room after Chinen, leaving their manager on his own. They try to catch up with Chinen, but even with his small frame, he walks pretty quickly and has disappeared round the corner.  
They wonder if he has gone to find Ohno who might possibly be in Arashi’s room.

“Do you guys want to come with me upstairs? With this curfew thing I might as well stay around here and wait for Papa. I am sure he can drive you both home afterwards.” Keito says. Even though they are not happy with the decision made, they have all been trained to following instructions and not break any rules. Yuto and Yamada both shake their heads.   
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Yuto says at the same time as Yamada, before turning around very quickly and walks towards the station to go home. Yamada follows behind him, but Yuto’s legs are miles longer than his (damn growth spurt), and he only catches up with Yuto because they are both waiting for the same train at the platform.

“Did you have to walk off so quickly?” Yamada pants as he stands next to Yuto. “Do you just not want to talk to me or something?”  
“It’s nothing like that.” Yuto says. “I just want to get home.”

The two of them get onto the back of the carriage and stands close to the door, not wanting to attract any attention.  
Yamada is close to Ryutaro.   
Yamada always wants a little brother and whilst Chinen is smaller than Ryutaro and acts more like a spoil brat, he is stupidly intelligence to the point where sometimes he rely on Chinen to take care of him. Ryutaro on the other hand, though taller and looks older, behaves like a kid and Yamada likes that.

“What do you think?” Yamada asks.  
“About what?”  
“The whole thing.”   
“I don’t know.” Yuto answers. Yamada sighs as he covers his eyes with his palm. He knows tears is threatening to fall from his eyes and even though he knows Yuto wouldn’t care if he starts crying (as in Yuto REALLY wouldn’t care – he has stopped caring a while ago), he doesn’t want to do it in public. He will end up causing a scene and people will recognise them, and they will end up on the newspaper with headlines like ‘Japanese teen idol Yamada Ryosuke breaks down on train’ or something like that.

The two of them doesn’t say anything else for the rest of the trip. They watch the scene moves in front of them until they hear the train announce their stop. The two of two wander the familiar road back home.

“Yamada.” Yuto says as they are walking on the quieter roads. Yamada turns his head and looks at Yuto. “It’ll make you feel better.”  
“What will?”  
“If you want to cry, just… let it out.” Yuto says.   
“I don’t need to cry.” Yamada says, but his voice is hardly convincing. Yuto pulls out two pairs of sunglasses from his bag, put a pair on and hand the other pair to Yamada.   
“Put them on. Protect your eyes from the harmful UVA and UVB lights in the hot summer of Japan, you know – being the centre of JUMP and all, you are a very important asset and I dread to think what’s going to happen if you’re hurt. In fact, I’ll get the blame if you’re hurt whilst I am around even though I haven’t done anything.”

A backhanded compliment from Yuto.  
They were best friends.  
They used to be so close and they used to spend all their time together.  
Chinen spent a lot of them with the two of them too, but never as much as the two of them together, going to each other’s house is like going home.  
What happened, and when did it happen?  
Yamada takes Yuto’s sunglasses and puts them on, and he realises what Yuto was thinking.   
The sunglasses are dark and large enough to cover his eyes and if he does want to cry, no one is going to notice.   
But they keep walking.  
Walking until they get to Yuto’s house.

“See you tomorrow.” Yuto says as he walks towards his house. Yamada doesn’t say anything as he grabs the bottom of Yuto’s t-shirt with his head hangs low. “What’s up?” Yamada shakes his head and purses his lips tight. He has been holding it in for too long. He grabs Yuto and buries his face into Yuto’s t-shirt and burst into tears. The edge of the sunglasses digs into Yuto’s chest, but he can’t do anything about it, not when Yamada is gripping onto him so tightly with his arms round his waist.

“Ssh… Let it out. Just let it out. It’s better out than in.” Yuto sighs, not sure where to put his hand until he decides to start running his fingers through his hair and gently patting his back. That’s friendly without being OVER friendly, right? “I know it’s not okay.”  
“It’s not fair.” Yamada sobs after his tears finally subside. “I can deal with the curfew and I can deal with the constant nagging. I can even deal with the press asking questions and wanting answers. But giving up on Ryutaro just like that and use him to as a warning to us? They aren’t even going to give him another chance? It’s like Kusano-kun and Uchi-kun all over again.”

Yuto likes Ryutaro just as much as everybody else in the group, if not even more because they have done TV shows together and they always have a blast because of his one-liner and his reactions that are either of a three-year-old or a ninety-year-old. But logically, Yuto wants to argue that the situation between Kusano and Uchi are slightly different. Ryutaro’s situation is actually closer to Kusano’s than to Uchi. Kusano was caught drinking and smoking underage. Uchi was set up by someone else and he was just a victim.  
And that’s why Uchi is now back in Johnny’s with a position similar to Kazema and Toma and is still part of the agency and Kusano isn’t.  
And he is pretty sure Ryutaro wouldn’t be part of the agency anymore but he doesn’t have the guts to say that to Yamada. He is upset enough as it is.  
The two of them stand outside Yuto’s house until Yamada has stopped crying and is ready to face the general public again.

“You’re okay going home?” Yuto asks as he pulls some tissue from his bag and hands it to Yamada.   
“I think I am okay.” Yamada answers as he takes the tissue from Yuto and wipes his face. “Sorry I’ve messed up your t-shirt.” Yuto shrugs. “Thank you.” Yamada says. “I know you don’t like me and I am sorry I cried all over you.”   
“It’s not like I can’t throw this into the washing machine.” Yuto says.   
“Can I keep the sunglasses for now? I’ll bring them back to you tomorrow.”  
“Sure.” Yuto says nonchalantly.   
“I’ll let you know when I get home?” Yamada says, but it sounds like a question  
“If you want.”  
“Thanks again.” Yamada answers before making his way up the road towards his own house.

*

“Tadaima.” Yuto says as he puts his shoes back in the cupboard and pulls out his slippers.   
“Okaeri.” His mother answers. “What took you so long? I got a mail from your manager that you left ages ago.” She asks as he walks into the kitchen and starts raging the fridge.

Yuto tells his mother he has actually been standing outside and Yamada has been crying. He might be a grudging teenager, he still have a pretty good relationship with his family. He still wants to go on family skiing holiday and go on cruises with his family when he’s got time off.  
His mother listens quietly.

“How is everybody else taking it?” His mother asks. Yuto shrugs.   
“Chinen seems angry more than anything. And you know what Keito’s like. He’s just quiet.” Yuto says and pulls out his phone and sends a message to Yabu, telling him what happened.   
“Things are going to be different now, isn’t it?” His mother asks.   
“I don’t know.” Yuto sighs again for the n-th time within the last few hours. “I don’t know how different it’s going to be. One thing I know for sure, we won’t be mentioning someone called Morimoto Ryutaro anymore and there are nine members in JUMP, and four members in SEVEN.” 


End file.
